I'll Not Lose You Again
by CatieTheAwesome
Summary: My fantasy ending to "The End Of Time", where Ten stays around and the Master lives! Slight Ten/Simm at the end, nothing graphic. Oneshot. R&R, please!


The Doctor had risen. His gun made a loud, definitive noise as he aimed it at the President. The Doctor glowered at Rassilon, preparing to squeeze the trigger.

"Choose your enemy well," advised Rassilon. "We are many. The Master is but one."

"But he's the President," said the Master, from behind the Doctor. "Kill him, and _Gallifrey_ could be yours!"

The Doctor hesitated for an instant, then whipped and aimed at the Master.

The Master looked outraged…and fearful. "_He's_ to blame, not me!" Then, something registered with the Master. "Oh…the link is inside my head…Kill me, the link gets broken, and they go back."

The Doctor grimaced.

The Master stared him down with cold, hateful eyes. "You never would," he hissed. "You _coward_." The green eyes softened. "Go on, then," his old friend whispered. "_Do it_!"

The two stared at each other for the longest time.

_Just get it over with_, the Doctor heard the Master say telepathically.

_You know if I do, it'll kill me_, replied the Doctor.

_Yeah, well. It'll kill me too. Literally_. The Master joked bitterly.

The Doctor swallowed a large lump in his throat, ready to pull the trigger. But he couldn't. He just couldn't.

_Snap_. The Doctor spun around again to face the council, aiming dead for Rassilon.

"Exactly!" shouted the Master. "It's not just me! He's the link! Kill him!"

"The final act of your life," said Rassilon, his cruel eyes glittering in malice at the Doctor, "…is _murder_. But which one of us?"

The Doctor stood, arm raised, gun ready to strike at any moment, and completely at an impasse.

The President smirked at the Doctor, challenging him to shoot.

It was then that the Doctor knew what to do.

He whirled around and fired.

But not before telling his old friend: "Get out of the way."

The Master smiled-a real smile-at the Doctor for an instant. And then he jumped.

The Doctor shot at the Immortality Gate-right at the whitepoint star. With surprisingly good aim (for a man who had never used a gun in his life), the bullet collided with the tiny gem and ignited a fiery explosion. "The link is broken!" shouted the Doctor, whirling around to face the President once more. "Back into the Time War, Rassilon! _Back into hell_!

In the sky, the great orange planet began to flicker out. Rassilon glared at the Doctor. "You die with me, Doctor!" he exclaimed.

The Doctor stared back into his cold, glittering eyes in truth. "I know."

The evil President raised his hand to deliver a finishing stream of energy at the man who had foiled his plans. The glove glowed bright blue. The Doctor stood his ground, waiting for his end to come.

Suddenly, there was a voice from behind the Doctor. "Get out of the way."

The Doctor turned around. The Master was standing there, his hands crackling with energy. He blasted the President straight to the chest with a blueish-purple shaft of light. "_You did this to me_!" he shouted. "_All my life_!" He switched hands and shot the President again. "_You made me! One!_" he yelled, counting off his strikes. "_Two! Three! Four!_"

The room glowed white as Gallifrey disappeared from the sky. The council began to be sucked back into the whiteness.

"_Nooooo!_" cried the President, fading away.

The Master stared at his hands. He, too, was disappearing. A tear fell down his face.

Suddenly, a pair of firm hands pulled him back. "No," he heard someone say in his ear. "I'll not lose you again."

The Doctor pulled the Master back from the white and the two man fell onto the ground as the last of their kind evaporated.

After it was all over, and the storm had passed, the Doctor slowly sat up. He was in disbelief. "I'm still alive," he whispered. "I'm still alive!"

"Glad someone is," said a pained voice beside him.

The Doctor froze…and rolled over. The Master lay sprawled on the floor.

"Master…Master?" said the Doctor. "Are you alright? I saved you though. You're going to live, Master!"

The Master laughed bitterly. "Same old, naïve Doctor. Don't you know? Those shocks I gave Rassilon? They burned out my entire system. I'm running on fumes as we speak. In a couple of minutes, I'll be dead."

"What? No." The Doctor did not believe this. "Just regenerate. Please, all you have to do is regenerate. Please!"

The Master looked away. "I didn't tell you last time. I didn't want to upset you, so I figured I'd make you angry at me instead. I thought it might not hurt as much, but…I'm all out of lives, I'm afraid. The little ritual the girls did back there was really just a cheat …I'm out of time, Doctor."

"No. _No_!" The Doctor took his friend in his arms, just as he had done before. "You can't do this to me! What about all we've been through? The Daleks, remember? And just now! We _beat_ the Time Lord President! Don't tell me that it ends now, Koschei! Not like this!"

The Master looked up at the Doctor in surprise. "You used my real name."

The Doctor smiled, despite the tears spilling down his cheeks. "Yeah, well…I'm suppose I'm the only one that remembers."

The Master smiled back, painfully. "Thank you, Doctor. Thank you for the memories."

"There's more of them to come, Koschei, I promise you. I said I wouldn't lose you again, and I'm not going to!"

The Master closed his eyes. "It's like I said before, Doctor…I win." And then spoke no more.

The Doctor quickly put his ear to the man's chest. His hearts were still beating, but barely. The Master was right. In a few minutes, the beats would stop completely. And his friend, his Koschei, would be gone.

The Doctor, sat there, his friend in his arms, weeping. "Koschei…my Koschei…"

Suddenly, in the midst of the Doctor's despondency, there was a loud four knocks.

The Doctor froze. _No…that can't be…_

_Knock-knock-knock-knock._ No. It was true. It was time.

The Doctor lay the Master down gently and stood. There stood Wilfred, in the Vinvocci booth. He had been there the whole time. The Doctor had forgotten all about him.

Wilf weakly waved at the Doctor. "They've gone, then?"

The Doctor made no response.

"Yeah, good-oh," continued Wilf. "If you could…let me out?"

The Doctor stared at the old man with sad brown eyes. "Yeah," he said softly.

"Er, this thing…seems to be makin' a bit of a noise," called Wilfred.

The Doctor sighed. "The Master left the nuclear bolt running…it's gone into overload."

"And that's bad, is it?" asked Wilf.

"No," said the Doctor, shrugging slightly. "'Cause all the excess radiation gets vented inside there. Vinvocci glass…contains it. All five hundred thousand rads, about to flood that thing."

"Oh." Wilf gave a small laugh. "Well you better let me out then."

The Doctor swallowed. "Except…it's gone critical. Touch one control and it floods." The Doctor reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out his screwdriver. "Even this would set it off."

Wilf, finally realizing what was about to happen, took in a short breath and looked at the Doctor. "I'm sorry."

"Sure," whispered the Doctor, looking away.

"Look," said Wilf. "Just leave me."

The Doctor look back at Wilf, then gave a sarcastic smile. "Okay, right then, I will." His expression turned somber again. "'Cause you had to go in there, didn't you?" The Doctor's voice cracked. "You had to get stuck, oh yes!" He gave a short gasping breath, trying to hold back tears. "'Cause that's who you are, Wilfred. You were always _this_." The Doctor looked at his shoes sadly. "Waiting for me, all this time."

"No really," said Wilfred. "Just leave me. I'm an old man, Doctor. I've had my time."

"Well exactly, look at you!" exclaimed the Doctor resentfully. "Not remotely important!...But me!...I could do so much more!...So much-"

The Doctor's tirade was cut short. He looked down at the Master's body, growing colder by the second. An idea sparked in his head. "Yes," he said. "That's it. That's it! Oh, I'm _brilliant_! Wilfred, I love you, you beautiful old man!"

The Doctor rushed into the booth. "Er…Doctor?" said Wilfred, looking confused. "What's wrong?"

"That's not the question, Wilf! The question is, 'what's right?' And the answer is…" The Doctor hit the red button. "…_everything_!"

Wilfred stepped of his booth as the door opened. A red light came on in the Doctor's booth as the energy was released. "Ah…" groaned the Doctor, feeling his skin absorb the energy. It hurt. But it was all about to be worth it.

"Doctor?" said Wilfred confusedly. The Doctor collapsed on the floor inside his cubicle. "Are you about this?"

The Doctor gave a pained smile. "I've never been so sure of anything in my whole life."

The last of the energy was released upon the Doctor. The red light shut off, and the door opened.

The Doctor slowly got to his feet. "Alright, alright, no time to waste!"

He knelt down next to the Master's unconscious body and said, "So, you think you've won, eh? Well, not today, old friend! _Not today!_"

The Doctor's skin began to glow golden. He merrily shook the old man's hand. "Wilf, I thank you for all your help, and no hard feelings. Now, I suggest you go home and check on Donna and dear old Sylvia! Have a wonderful life, and merry Christmas!"

It was May.

"Uh…" Wilf scratched his head. "Thank you, Doctor. Good luck." The old man left.

"Finally," breathed the Doctor with relief. And exploded with regeneration energy.

The Doctor felt his body being revived, the nuclear poisoning being stripped away, and even the small nicks and cuts he had received from falling through the glass skylight earlier being closed up.

_Okay,_ he thought when he was completely healed. _Now for the real magic!_

The Doctor channeled all his energy to the palms of his hands. The golden light jetstreamed out of the Doctor's hands…and into the Master's near dead body.

"There ya go, Master!" laughed the Doctor. "Have your fill! There might even be enough to fix that ridiculous blonde hair, if you're lucky!"

The Master's form glowed brightly with the energy the Doctor supplied. His eyes snapped open. "_What is this_?!" he cried.

"Sorry Master, but nobody dies today! Today, _everybody lives_!" The energy finished pouring from the Doctor. "Now, how do you feel?"

The Master blinked in surprise. He felt…fine. Good, in fact. Better than he had for a long time. He looked himself over briefly, then stood up.

"Nice, huh?" said the Doctor. "You didn't even have to get a new face. Well, unless you wanted to. Then I'm sorry. Personally, I prefer this look. Definitely better that ridiculous mustache you used to-"

"Oh, do shut up," said the Master, practically attacking the Doctor into a hug.

The Doctor smiled and hugged back. "Ah, it's all over, Master. Now it's just you, me, and the big wide universe."

The Master looked at him in surprise. "What?"

"Oh, my offer," said the Doctor. "Still stands. You know…if you want to take it."

"Travel around the universe? In your TARDIS?" The Master raised an eyebrow. "With _you_?"

The Doctor looked slightly hurt. "Well, yeah. I mean…I just thought…maybe you and I-"

The Master silenced his fellow Time Lord with a surprise liplock. The Doctor was taken aback for a second, but then kissed back.

The Master pulled away and smiled the Doctor. "It would be my honor…Theta."

The Doctor smiled at the use of his name from another life. Then, a thought occurred to him. "Wait. Can you still hear the drums?"

The Master nodded. "Yes. But…I don't know what it is, Doctor. When I'm with you…" He smiled a bit. "…they seem to fade a little."

"That's good. Perhaps someday, we can get rid of them for good. But for now…" The Doctor grinned mischievously. "How long has it been since you've been to Planet Barcelona?"

"Oh, ages!" exclaimed the Master, laughing.

"Well, then, what are we waiting for?" The two Time Lords headed off to the TARDIS to tour the skies together.


End file.
